St. Agatha Students ‘Sweep’ Again In Essay Awards

For the second year in a row, six students from St. Agatha School won 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in their respective grades in the annual Forbes House Lincoln Essay & Drawing Contest.  Seventh Graders Siobhan Senier, Aileen Farrell, and Maureen Westwater won 1st , 2nd , and 3rd place, and Eighth Graders Zachary Patterson, Julie Montminy, and Bridget Hobin also placed first, second, and third as well.  Additonally, St. Agatha School also had winners in the 1st and 2nd Grade Category for best poster.  Ella Gavin won 1st Place in the First Grade competition and her brother Jack won 2nd Place in the Second Grade Competition. 
            "This year was particularly special for us here at the Forbes House Museum. We were thrilled with the high number of entries to the contest, and enjoyed meeting the students at the awards ceremony,” according to Robin Tagliaferri, Director of the Forbes House Museum.  She said that for the first time, we gave each winner, all 23 students, a free one-year Family Membership to the Museum. Furthermore, the first place winners of the essay contest received a $25 savings bond courtesy of the Lower Mills Branch of Citizens Bank. We hope to continue this tradition next year. 
            “This interest in President Lincoln began with Mary Bowditch Forbes, who was the granddaughter of Captain Robert Bennet Forbes. She commissioned the building of the Lincoln Log Cabin in 1923, and we are honored to continue her tradition of requesting essays from local students in honor of her beloved President," said Taglieri.
            Each year, the Forbes House sponsors an essay and drawing competition based on the life and accomplishments of President Lincoln for students in Kindergarten through Grade 8.  This year, the assignment noted that March 4, 2011 marked the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s 1st Inaugural Address.  At that time, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas had already seceded from the Union and formed the Confederacy.  The War began in April, and four additional states; Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia also seceded.  The essay assignment for Grades 4 – 8 required students to choose one of the additional four states that had not yet seceded and write about what Lincoln could have said or done to convince this state to stay in the Union.  Grades K – 3 were required to draw a picture of Abraham Lincoln’s 1st Inauguration in 1861.
            Eighth Grader Julie Montminy wrote that, “Virginia, being a coastal state, had many advantages.  Soldiers, supplies, goods, food and artillery could be shipped from Virginia’s ports.  This would be a great asset to the Union.”  Seventh Grader Aileen Farrell tried to persuade Tennessee to remain in the Union.  She wrote, “Our past Presidents set up this Union to make our lives boundless and full of opportunities for future generations…if we all secede, we would be taking major steps backward.”
            Each year, one essay is chosen to be read aloud, and 7th Grade First Place Winner Siobhan Senier was honored to read hers.  Se began with the voice of Lincoln, “It is my intention to serve as President for all states, including those states currently in rebellion against  the Union.  It is not my wish to bring the unavoidable destruction that war requires on my fellow Amercians.  The power to avoid this certain calamity is in your hands and not mine.”